All Grown Up
by UnOriginalOne
Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother? PERMANENT HIATUS
1. Default Chapter

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee  

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. Um a huge favour I would love to ask any readers, I wrote an AU Alias fic called 'A Life Not Worth Living', its about suicide and depression and is rated R. You don't really need to know anything about Alias to read it, anyway it's a story that I'm incredibly proud of writing and I would _really_ love to get some more feedback for it, so if people could R & R it'd be much appreciated (its only got an R rating for subject matter, my younger friends have read it and its suitable it'd be like an MA movie in Oz). Ok enough about that, I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place. So here goes, I hope I do the idea justice and don't forget to review.

**Chapter 1**

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte McLeod stood in front of her new classmates. "Class we have a new student today, please say hello to Charlotte McLeod." A few people mumbled hello, while Charlotte stood there nervously twisting her hands. "Charlotte, would you like to tell us about yourself."

"Um," she began "My names Charlotte McLeod. I'm fifteen and I just moved back to Drovers Run, that's where I was born. I used to go to boarding school in Adelaide but I missed everyone at Drovers so I asked to come back here."

"Thank you Charlotte, would you please take a seat next to Tarlia over there." Charlotte nodded and sat next to a blonde haired girl.

The rest of the morning dragged on. At lunchtime, Charlotte was sitting under a tree outside when Tarlia approached her, "I'm Tarlia Jackson."

"Charlotte McLeod."

"Yeah I know."

"Sorry."

"That's ok. You like it here?"  
"No, its weird, I thought that if I came back to Drovers then, I'd feel closer to her, you know, but I just don't feel it. I feel so empty."

"Woah, back up closer to who?"

"Sorry, I do that sometimes. My mum. She was killed before I was a year old."

"Man, I'm sorry, how'd it happen, unless you don't wanna tell me?"  
"It's ok. Mum and Aunty Tess were driving and the Ute hit a bump in the road or something and the Ute stopped, hanging off a cliff. Mum was stuck, Aunty Tess only just managed to get me out before the Ute went over."

"That really sucks, so who raised you?"

"Aunty Tess was at first but after my first birthday I went to live with my Dad and half sisters, dad sent me to boarding school. I got sick of it and told him that I wanted to live at Drovers full time. Uncle Alex said I was just like mum, cept I'm going to school here, mum left school when she was fifteen and worked till she died."

"Your mum sounds like a great person."

"Yeah, that's what everyone tells me. I just wish I got a chance to know her." Tarlia nodded. "So your from Adelaide?"

"Yeah, I was in boarding school there, it sucked. The people were so annoying. It drove me nuts."

"And you came to Fisher?"

"Yeah, I wanted to live out at Drovers again. I don't really remember much about living there, and I haven't visited it much since I was little." Tarlia and Charlotte talked the rest of lunch and when the bell rang they went to their respective classrooms.

Tess came to pick Charlotte up after school. "Hey, how was your day?"

"Could've been more painful" Charlotte replied as she climbed into the ute "How bout yours?"

"Average, did the usual things, drenched some sheep, moved some cows, cleaned the yards, you know the usual." Charlotte nodded.

"Tell me about mum" Charlotte asked.

"Huh?"

"Tell me about mum."

"Your mother, well…" Tess began "She was a wonderful person. She loved you to death. Char, she would be so proud of you." Tears began to form in Charlottes eyes, she wiped them away and they continued their drive in silence.

When they arrived back at Drovers, Charlotte ran upstairs to her room. She dumped her bag on the floor and pulled her riding boots on before running out of the house again. "Where's she going in such a hurry?" Meg asked.

"I dunno" Tess replied. Meg shrugged her shoulders and continued to prepare dinner. Charlotte meanwhile had run up to the horse yards. After yelling a quick hello to Jodie, Stevie and Rose, who was visiting, she caught Phoenix and saddled her up. Charlotte quickly mounted and rode off. Tess came running up to the yards after Charlotte left "You guys seen Charlotte?" she asked.

"That would be her riding like a bat out of hell over there" Stevie replied, pointing to the figure in the distance. "There's no point in going after her, she can look after herself" Jodie told Tess.

"Yeah I guess there isn't, I'll be in the house if you want me. You guys can finish up for the day when your done there."

"Thanks Tess" Stevie replied.

Charlotte urged Phoenix to speed up as the wind rushed past her face, blowing her long red hair behind her. Charlotte had died her brown hair a golden red color last year and liked it so much, she kept it. She always thought it looked like the sunset over Drovers. She slowed Phoenix as she approached her destination. Claire's grave. She halted and dismounted, pulling the reins over Phoenix's head, allowing her to hold the horse while she sat. Charlotte sat in front of the grave, not knowing what to say. She felt numb. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped them away roughly. After almost an hour of silence, she decided that she had better head home, Tess would be starting to get worried. She re mounted Phoenix and started back towards home.

It was almost dark when she arrived back at the homestead. She'd cooled Phoenix down and fed her before slowly walking back to the house. When she got there, Alex was in the kitchen "Hey kiddo" he said, hugging her tightly "Where you been?"

"Riding" she stated "I'm just going to do my homework." Charlotte headed up the stairs, shutting herself in her room. Alex watched as she retreated from the kitchen, "What's wrong with her?"

"I think she's still adjusting. It must be hard for her, growing up without Claire around" Meg said.

"Claire would have been so proud of her."

"Yeah she would've been" Meg agreed.

Charlotte didn't come downstairs until late that night, she'd tried to work on her homework, but found herself distracted. Frustrated, she left her room and went downstairs to eat something. She found everyone sitting in the dinning room talking and snuck past the door and into the kitchen to fix herself a snack. Once she'd had something to eat, she snuck back up to her room and climbed into bed, eventually drifting into a restless sleep.

A/N: What did people think? that was probably one of the shortest chapters I have written. But anyway, what did you think? was it good, bad, absolutely shocking? Review and let me know. LOL Alyce :D


	2. Chapter 2

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee  

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place. I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but then again I haven't updated many of my other fics either, I've been writing a lot of one-parters, plus I was out of inspiration for this. Its probably gonna be a while before I update again cos I'm writing three Alias fics as well as this and I'm currently working on a fic for the SD-1 S/V smut challenge, so I'm apologising in advance for being slack with updates. Anyway please review, I'd love to know what you think. Heres the next chapter.

Chapter 2 

Charlotte woke up early the next morning, her neck stiff from being in an awkward position all night. She looked at the clock and groaned, 5:25, she had to be out of bed in five minutes to get ready for school. "This sucks" Charlotte grumbled, turning her alarm off and kicking her covers off. She rummaged through her suitcase looking for something to wear, "I really should unpack those," she said to herself, as she stumbled out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

The hot water pelted down on her skin, the little droplets, cascading down her arms. The water soothed her, it always had. When Charlotte was at boarding school she'd gotten in trouble frequently for spending so much time in the showers. Charlotte rubbed shampoo and conditioner through her hair and rinsed it clean. After a good half hour, she stepped out from the small shower, which stood in the corner of the white bathroom, and dried her skin, wrapping a towel around her hair while she dressed. When she finally emerged from the bathroom, Tess was out of bed and wandering around aimlessly. "Charlotte, your up."

"Yeah, I was just having a shower."

"Well, breakfast is ready when you wanna come down."

"Sure, I'll be there in a minute." Tess watched Charlotte go into her bedroom, before going downstairs.

Charlotte walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. She picked up a plate of bacon and eggs and sat down to eat. Meg handed her a glass of juice and she smiled in recognition. "Who's taking me to school today?"

"I am kiddo" a male voice responded.

"Hi Uncle Alex."

"Hey everyone" he said, referring to the others that were congregating in the kitchen for breakfast. "Char, how'd Phoenix go yesterday?" Stevie asked.

"She was fine" Charlotte responded, not really wanting to communicate with anyone. After several long minutes Charlotte took her plate to the bench and disappeared upstairs to finish getting ready for school. "She's a bit off" Jodie commented.

"Just give her some time Jodie, it can't be easy for her to be here" Tess responded.

"Yeah, but it was her choice, Peter was more than happy to keep her with him."

"Peter had her in boarding school, he didn't have that much to do with her anyway."

"Why don't you all cut her some slack" Alex started "It must be hard for her, Claire died before Charlotte knew her and the knob clearly hasn't been a great father for her either. She's had a lot to deal with and she's only fifteen."

"I guess your right Alex, I just wish there was something we could do to make things easier for her" Tess said.

"Just give her some space" Meg reasoned "She'll come around." The rooms other occupants nodded and before long Charlotte came back downstairs carrying a backpack. "I'm ready. See you guys this arvo" she said, heading out the door before anyone could respond. "I guess that means we're off" Alex commented, putting his hat back on as he left.

A couple of hours later Charlotte arrived at school, "See ya kiddo" Alex called as she climbed out of the Ute. Charlotte merely waved in his direction as she walked through the front gates. Once she was sure that Alex was out of sight she took her jacket off and tied it around her waist, revealing a tight singlet top that stopped just above her belly button and was cut low enough that you could see a fair amount of cleavage. She wandered towards her locker and bumped her bag in front of it, opening it so she could empty all the crap into her locker. Charlotte swung the metal door open, almost knocking someone over in the process, "Shit, you tryna kill me or something" a male voice exclaimed.

"Maybe" Charlotte replied coldly, "If you piss me off enough." She swung her door closed and looked at the source of the voice. He looked her over, paying particular attention to her top half, "Well, I ain't seen you around here before" he said, "I'd have noticed, I'm Andrew."

"Charlotte" she replied, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Where you from?"

"I just moved here from Adelaide, but I was born on one of the farms out here."

"Really? Which one?"

"Drovers Run."

"Drover Run, I live across the road from there."

"You do?"

"Yeah, well not really, our property runs on the opposite side of the road."

"Wait are you from Kingsford?"

"Yeah."

"Interesting…"

"Why?"

"Just cos." A couple of guys walked past where the two were standing and whistled loudly, "You know, you're gonna get that reaction all day now."

"Why?"

"Well, you look damn hot, there's gonna be a whole lotta guys wanting to screw you."

"What makes you think that that isn't the reaction I was after?"

"I never said it wasn't but if it was, wanna come up the back with me."

"Sure" Charlotte replied, taking his hand and following him up towards the back of the school.

Andrew dropped her hand once they were out of sight of the main building but before he could make a move on her Charlotte grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her and kissing him roughly. Andrew was stunned, but melded to her instantaneously. They were interrupted by the ringing of the bell, and reluctantly they broke away, breathless. The two of them walked back towards the main building, his hand resting ever so slightly on her butt and hers wound around his waist, holding him close. When they arrived at the main building they headed for their respective classrooms.

The morning dragged on and Charlotte watched the hands on the clock move slowly, minutes seemed like hours, hours seemed like days. She was unable to concentrate during her first two classes and found herself with a detention during recess because she was late for class and she was 'disrespectful' to a teacher. By lunchtime Charlotte was fed up with school, she threw her books in her locker and when she closed the door, Andrew was standing there, a cheeky grin on her face. "Wanna blow off school this arvo? I'm sure we could find something better to do" he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Why not?" she replied, grabbing her wallet from her bag. Andrew grabbed her hand and they had begun to walk out of the building and towards the back of the school when Tarlia stopped them, "You coming with us Char?"

"Ya-huh."

"Nice top babe."

"Thanks."

"Mark said he was gonna meet us up the back."

"Well let's go then." Tarlia, Charlotte and Andrew snuck up the back of the school, standing in a clearing while they waited for Mark to show up. After a few minutes he did and the four of them headed out the back gate and into town.

A/N: I'm gonna leave it there. I know Charlotte seems so different to Claire, but the reason for that is she has rebelled against peter and takes pride in doing whatever she hates, and yes she seems kinda slutty, but hey, that's how I wanted to write her. I ask you to remember that she grew up without Claire to really straighten her out, so that's why she kinda crazy. Please review and let me know what you think, was it good, bad, horrible? I appreciate all feedback. Next update should be in a couple of weeks (hopefully) maybe sooner depending on how much I get done on my Alias fics. Please check them out if you've got the time. Blah, blah, blah…until next time… LOL Alyce :D


	3. Chapter 3

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee  

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place. I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but then again I haven't updated many of my other fics either, I've been writing a lot of one-parters, plus I was out of inspiration for this. Its probably gonna be a while before I update again cos I'm writing three Alias fics as well as this. I was also working like a maniac on my SD-1 S/V Smut challenge fic (which I finally finished! :D) Please review and let me know what you think. Anyway, heres the next chapter…

Chapter 3 

After Mark met up with them, Charlotte, Tarlia and Andrew snuck out the back gate of the school and headed towards town. Charlotte watched as Tarlia and Mark, fought to keep their hands off each other. She grinned and shook her head, pointing the fidgety couple out to Andrew. "Their always like that" he whispered in her ear, as he slipped his arm around her waist, holding her possessively. After a few minutes, Tarlia and Mark stopped outside a café, waiting for Andrew and Charlotte to catch up. "You guys wanna get something to eat?" Tarlia asked.

"Sure, Char, how bout you?"

"Yeah, why not." The four of them walked into the half empty café and ordered something to eat, before settling down at one of the tables near the back. Once they were seated Mark and Tarlia began to make-out and Charlotte and Andrew soon began to copy their actions. A few minutes later a waitress interrupted them, and quickly dropped their plates on the table, before leaving. They took their time eating their lunch and half an hour later, the four of them left.

Once they had eaten, they continued down the deserted main street of Fisher. As they passed a clothing shop, Tarlia squealed and pulled Mark inside, Charlotte and Andrew followed them in. Mark and Andrew sat in the chairs at the back of the store while Charlotte and Tarlia looked through the clothes racks. They each grabbed a couple of t-shirts and a pair of pants and went to try them on, before modelling them for the boys. The boys unanimously decided that the girls 'looked damn hot', so they went and paid for the clothes and left the shop. After the clothes shop, they kept walking down the street and stopped outside the CD store. Mark and Andrew insisted that they look for CDs, so the girls followed them in. They spent at least an hour in the CD store and when they left, they each had a new CD. By the time they stepped back out of the CD store, the streets were slightly more crowded, and as they made their way down the road, Charlotte saw Tess amongst the crowd. "Shit, Tess is up there," she said, pointing to where Tess was walking. In an effort to avoid getting caught, the four of them turned down a back street and snuck back towards the school.

The four of them weaved through a series of residential streets in an attempt to avoid anywhere that Tess might appear. Ten or so minutes later they arrived at the back entrance of the school and hid in the bushes. Andrew stuck his head around the side of a building cautiously, checking to see if there were ant stray teachers walking around. The coast seemed clear, so him and Mark snuck down to the lockers, stashing all their purchases safely in their bags. Once the task was complete, they ran back up to where they'd left the girls, gossiping in amongst the trees. "Where'd you get that top Char?" Tarlia asked once the boys had left. "Adelaide."

"Is that where you lived?"

"Yeah in a boarding school. Dad didn't want me around."

"What a prick."

"Tell me about it."

"You had many boyfriends?" Tarlia asked suddenly.

"Never really had a boyfriend, just a couple of guys I've slept with," Charlotte admitted, shrugging her shoulders, "How bout you?"

"I've been with a couple of guys. Mark and I have been together a couple of months."

"You slept with him yet?"

"Yeah, what else are we gonna do on the weekends?"

"Where do you live again?"

"Out on the main road. Bout an hour or so from school. You live at Drovers right?"

"Yeah."

"You'll be on the same bus as me, Mark and Andy, unless someone's gonna drive you everyday."

"Nah, they've all got better things to do than drive me around."

"Sucks doesn't it."

"Definitely." Mark and Andrew chose that moment to re-appear from their 'mission.' Mark tapped his watch, "We've still got five minutes till the bell." Tarlia nodded and grabbed Mark in her arms, slamming her lips into his. Charlotte shook her head, as the two of them made out, hands running everywhere. She smiled at Andrew and pulled him to her. He melded to her immediately, slipping his tongue in, in the process. Both couple's escapades were interrupted by the loud ring of the school bell. They separated from their respective partners and stood to exit their hiding spot. Charlotte removed the jacket from her waist and slipped it on, pulling the zip up to cover her skimpy top. She grabbed Andrew's hand and followed they followed Mark and Tarlia into the frenzy of students.

Charlotte gave Andrew one last kiss as she grabbed her bag from the top of her locker. She opened the metal door and shoved a couple of folders into the canvas backpack, so to the outward observer it looked like she was taking her homework with her. In reality, she was just looking for something to cover her shopping bags with. "Charlotte," a voice called down the hall. Charlotte looked up and saw Tess coming towards her, "Gotta go," she said to Andrew, "Tess is coming." Andrew nodded and walked off to where Mark and Tarlia were waiting for him. "Hi Aunty Tess!" Charlotte exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to pick you up silly. Come on, utes out the front." Charlotte plastered a semi fake smile on her face and followed Tess down the hall, discreetly waving to Mark, Andrew and Tarlia, as she disappeared in the crowd of students.

Once they were seated comfortably in the ute, Tess started the motor and pulled out from the curb. "How was school today?"

"It was fine," Charlotte mumbled in response.

"I've arranged for you to take the bus from now on. The timetable should be in my pocket, I'll give it to you when we get home." Charlotte was silent. "You ok sweetie?"

"Yeah Aunty Tess, I'm fine, just really tired."

"Why don't you have a rest, I'll wake you when we get home." Charlotte nodded and dropped her head back against the seat, drifting off almost immediately. Tess sensed that there was something that Charlotte wasn't mentioning but chose not to question her about it, figuring that she would tell her when she was ready.

A/N: I'm gonna leave it there. Sorry for taking forever to update. I'll try and update again soon, but I've got English SAC's the next two weeks and a maths one next week too, so I'll be busy with that. Anyway let me know what you thought. Until next time… LOL Alyce :D


	4. Chapter 4

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place. OMG AN UPDATE!!!!! I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I've had exams, so I took a break from writing so I could study a bit.

Emsta-thanks for reviewing :D but I have to ask, you said that the class scene was unrealistic, in what way?? Cos that's what its like at my school…

Sarah-thanks for reviewing :D

Kimmygal-thanks for reviewing :D glad that you like it, cos I'm havin a bit of trouble writing it.

Kylie Bauerhuit-wow!! Thanks for the review. :D it made me smile, although I really don't think that the writers would like Charlotte like this… :P

Proud2BeABitch-LOVE THE NAME :P thanks for reviewing :D

Jordan-thanks for reviewing :D

Drovers Run-thanks for the review, and I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner… I have a valid excuse… :P

Solia-to tell you the truth, the names thing wasn't intentional… I didn't even realise I'd done it till you pointed it out. And yes Charlotte is very un-Claire like, but I explained all that before, she just rebelled against Peter (who wouldn't). Thanks for reviewing :D

LieutenantjgMegAustin-thanks for your reviews…plural. I wanted to update sooner but I didn't have an idea for the next chapter. Now I do. :D

Chapter 4 

The school bus crawled along the gravel road on Friday afternoon, as the remaining students waited in anticipation of the upcoming weekend. Many had already fallen asleep, the early mornings taking their toll on many of them. Charlotte and Andrew were up the back of the bus, surprisingly alert despite their fatigue. "What are you doing this weekend?" Andrew whispered into Charlotte's neck as he placed gentle kisses at its base. "Mmm, I dunno…" she replied, trying earnestly not to let a loud moan escape from her lips. She playfully shoved him away to prevent further assaults, and to keep the other occupants figuring out what they _really_ wanted to be doing at that moment. The bus pulled up at Kingsford's gate and Andrew reluctantly stood up, leaving Charlotte alone at the back of the bus. She sighed as the bus continued its journey towards Drovers Run.

Several minutes' later Charlotte climbed down the steps and onto the dusty road. Rose was waiting next to the Drovers Run sign. "Hey Char," she called. Charlotte flashed her a semi-fake smile and crossed through the dust of the now departed school bus. "Hi Rose," she mumbled, slipping her sunglasses on to dull the glare of the bright afternoon sun. "What are you doing this weekend?" Rose asked brightly. Charlotte shrugged and climbed into the Ute next to Rose. They headed towards the house and Rose dropped Charlotte off at the front door as she mumbled a quiet thank you, and ran into the house and upstairs to her room.

Throwing her bag amongst the chaos that she called her bedroom, Charlotte threw herself on the bed, pulling her mobile phone out of her pocket and noting that she had a new message. It was from Andrew, asking her to meet him at a certain spot along the road. Writing a quick reply, she shoved her phone back in her pocket and grabbed her hat and boots before running down to saddle Phoenix. After giving her horse a quick brush, she threw the saddle and bridle on, quickly mounting and speeding off.

Half an hour later she slowed down along a stretch of fence near the road. Allowing Phoenix to have a rest while they waited for Andrew to show on his motorbike. A few minutes later she heard the sound of an approaching bike, and jumped down off her horse, leaving her standing in the paddock while she climbed through the fence and onto the road to greet Andrew. "Hey," she said before grabbing him in a passionate kiss. When they pulled away moment's later Andrew spoke, "Mark and Tarlia are going out tonight, they wanna know if we'll come with."

"Sure, where are they going?"

"Wouldn't have a clue. Mark just said that they'll meet me at my place at 9:30."

"Do you want me to meet you there?"

"No, we'll come and get you about 9:45, I'll let you know where to meet us later."

"Sounds good. I better get back before anyone notices I'm gone. I'll see you later." Charlotte gave him a quick kiss before climbing back through the fence and mounting Phoenix, who'd stood there while Charlotte and Andrew talked.

An hour or so later Charlotte stopped in the horse yards and tied her horse up, unsaddling her quickly and giving her a small feed before letting her go. Once she'd taken care of her horse, she went back down to the house. Grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen, she went up to her room to fish through her boxes, trying to find something to wear that night. She quickly decided on a pair of jeans, but was unable to choose a top to go with them. Giving up on that task for a moment, she began experimenting with her hair, clipping it on top of her head, then deciding against it, letting it loose to fall over her shoulders. There was a knock on her door and she quickly gathered her hair up in a ponytail again, and stashed her tops under the bed, "Come in," she called. The door opened and Tess came in. "Hey Char, how was school?"

"It was great," she said, sarcasm evident in her tone. Tess either didn't recognise her sarcastic comment, or chose not to comment on it. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Homework I guess," Charlotte said, trying to keep up the 'good girl' persona she'd always put forward when she visited her Aunt on Drovers. "Well if you need any help, let us know."

"I'll do that Aunty Tess, thank you."

"That's fine sweetie, dinner will be ready soon if you wanna come down."

"I'll be down soon, I just wanna get cleaned up a bit." Tess nodded and left her niece alone. Once Tess was out of the room Charlotte pulled out her skimpy tops again, still trying to decide which top she would rather wear.

Charlotte padded downstairs forty-five minutes later, dressed in her pyjamas, putting up the front that she was going to 'get an early night.' She sat next to Kate at the table, and began to pick at her dinner. She listened to everyone's conversations but no one spoke to her, she sort of faded into the background. "Charlotte how was school?" Meg asked politely, interrupting Charlottes' thoughts. "It was great," she exclaimed, giving them the same response that she gave Tess earlier. "You having an early one Char?" Kate asked, noting Charlotte's pyjamas. "Yeah, I'm really burnt." Kate nodded and turned to listen to Jodie and Rose who were discussing going to Gungellan for a few drinks. "That sounds great, I'll come too," Kate said and the other girls quickly talked Tess and Stevie into coming with them, Meg refused their offer, "I'd rather stay in tonight, I think I'm getting a bit old," she told them. Charlotte smiled to herself, it would be easier to get out tonight than she thought.

Everyone left for Gungellan shortly after dinner, leaving Charlotte alone in the house after she assured them that she'd be fine home by herself. Meg left soon after, heading down to the cottage to settle down for the night. Once she was completely alone, Charlotte went to her room to get ready to meet Mark, Tarlia and Andrew. She glanced over at the clock noting that she had an hour and forty-five minutes to get ready. 'How am I going to be ready in time?' she asked herself, before heading into the bathroom for a quick shower.

A/N: I'm gonna leave it there. Next chapter should be up sooner. Let me know what you thought. Until next time…LOL Alyce :D


	5. Chapter 5

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place.

My apologies for the lack of updates…I sorta forgot that I was writing this, cos I had this idea for a new Alias fic…and well I've been working on that, and with Christmas, comes tourists to Coota, so I've been busy with work and stuff. And now the bad news, while I have an update for you now…I'm about to start getting ready to move out of home, so there'll be another break in updates, cos I've got a million things to sort out. My apologies.

Jordan-thanks so much for your review. I'm trying but at the moment, I'm writing five stories, and stories get lost in the back of my mind (I've been kinda lax in updating a couple of my Alias stories too) but I really try to get things written. I think when McLeod's starts again, I may have some more inspiration, you never know. Thanks again for reviewing :D

Chapter 5 

Mark, Tarlia and Andrew arrived at Drovers Run a little after 9:45. Charlotte came outside, dressed in plain jeans and a singlet top, which showed off much of her cleavage. Her hair was left loose, and hung over her shoulders, emphasizing the roundness of her face. "Hey," she greeted everyone, giving Andrew a quick kiss, "Where we off to?" Mark held up a slab, "One of the back paddocks, got us some grog." Charlotte nodded approvingly, "Great, it's been too long since me last drink." The four of them set off in the general direction of the National Park.

When they were a fair distance from the house, they stopped and sat down on the damp grass. Mark passed the others a drink each and the girls settled themselves against their partners. "So Char, why'd you give up living in the City to come here?" Mark asked.

"I was in Boarding School, it wasn't like my Dad really wanted me with him anyway, so I came back out here, plus, I kept messing up, they were on the verge of kicking me out of school when I decided to leave."

"Why were they gonna kick ya out?" Tarlia questioned Charlotte, who tensed up slightly.

"Well, it was an all girls school, and they sorta caught me sneaking out with a guy, and then I got in the shit for hooking up with a guy from our Sister School, and it was pretty much all over after that. I didn't want to be there, it's too restricting, but out here," she gestured to the open air, "I can pretty much do whatever…whoever I please, and as long as I act like a good whittle girl for Aunty Tess, then she won't notice."

"She will eventually Charlotte, you know that don't ya?"

"Yeah, but it'll be fun while it lasts. In Adelaide, there were too many rules, I don't take to rules too well."

"Aww, bit of a Rebel are you babe?" Andrew asked, nibbling the side of her neck.

"Just a little," she breathed after a minute, "Keep doing that and I might have to show you just how much of a Rebel I can be."

"Really…" Andrew said, continuing his assault on her neck.

"Definitely." Charlotte stood up and grabbed Andrew's hand, dragging him off behind a nearby tree. Mark and Tarlia watched as Charlotte's shirt came flying out from behind the tree, and they took the opportunity to have a little couple time themselves.

Later that night the four of them were sitting around, drinking the last of the slab, while they continued to talk about anything and everything. "How many guys you been with?" Tarlia asked out of the blue. Charlotte counted in her head, "Seven, including Andrew. How bout you?"

"Four, including Mark. What about you boys, how many girls you been with?"

"Six," Mark said, "Including you baby."

"Five, including Charlotte." Charlotte leaned back into Andrew, resting her head on his shoulder, "It's so nice out here, I don't want to go back to the house."

"So don't, sleep out here tonight."

"I can't, I'm a good little girl, who wouldn't sneak out to drink and have sex with her boyfriend."

"Why do they think that you're so perfect?"

"They expect me to be like Mum. I'm not."

"What was she like?" Tarlia asked quietly.

"I dunno, she died when I was a baby. I only know what I'm told by everyone on Drovers."

"Do you wish you knew her?"  
"Sometimes, I think that if I knew Mum, then maybe I wouldn't do some of the things I do, but maybe it's who I am, maybe I'm like my Dad in some ways."

"What do you mean, like your Dad?"  
"Dad cheated on his wife with my Mum. Then she found out, and dumped him. They got back together one night and she got pregnant. Some other shit happened and he ended up with his wife, thinking that I was someone else's kid. That I was Uncle Alex's kid. Long story short, Mum died and Dad ended up with custody of me, so I went to live with him and his wife and their kids. Only he was a shit father…put me in boarding school so he wouldn't need to deal with me. I hate him so much, I guess that's why I do the things I do, to get back at him."

"But you're living here now, you don't need to do any of that any more."

"Old habits die hard."

Charlotte made it back to the Homestead a little after three am. She staggered up the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible, so she didn't wake Tess, who had obviously returned from Gungellan, as the ute was parked in its usual spot near the sheds. As she readied herself for bed, Charlotte thought about what had transpired in the last few hours, she had taken the next step in her relationship with Andrew, and it was like nothing she had experienced before in her life. Although she had been with a few guys before, being intimate with Andrew actually meant something to her, whereas those other men meant nothing to her, they were more like faces with out names, people she used to get back at her father, and men who were able to satisfy her needs at that moment in time. but Andrew was something else, maybe…just maybe she could grow to love him and he might be the one guy who could stop her promiscuous ways. Whatever she felt Charlotte knew for sure, she didn't want to let Andrew go.

A/N: I know it's short but I wanted to get it posted, I'll try and update again soon. Let me know what you think…:lol: Alyce :D


	6. Chapter 6

Title: All Grown Up

Author: Chickiee-Dee

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own McLeod's Daughters or anything associated with it.

Summary: AU. Charlotte's a teenager, how has her life been affected by the absence of her mother?

Authors Notes: This is only my second attempt at a McLeod's Daughters fic. I mostly write Alias fics (if anyone's interested in reading them, I'd love to now what you think). If anyone wants to read my first McLeod's fic, its called 'Final Thoughts' and I'd appreciate feedback on that as well. I LOVE constructive criticism but any other comments are welcome. I wanted to dedicate this fic in its entirety to my friend, Kimby, whose a huge McLeod's fan and was the one who gave me the idea for this in the first place.

I have another update…finally. I was hoping that when McLeod's started again I would have some inspiration for this, but unfortunately that hasn't happened, so I can't make any promises about when I will update again. Coupled with the insanity that is my life at the moment, I won't be updating any of my Alias fics until at least Mid-April, discounting stockpiled chapters, because I'm going home for the holidays and I'm not taking my computer with me. I will try my best to update this at least once a month, but until I get some more inspiration that is the best I can promise…sorry.

CSIcrazy-thanks for reviewing…I'm glad you like this fic. As it says above, I don't own any of the credit for the initial idea for this fic, it was my amazing friend, who I miss dearly. I wasn't sure about having charlotte was a rebel-ly character but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, given the fact that she wasn't raised by Claire. Hope you got your kitten out (I miss my cat so much), my cat loves to climb all over my computer when I'm working on something and not paying attention to him, it's cute, but gets so annoying…

Nikki-thanks for reviewing. When I say Coota, I do mean Mallacoota, I just call it Coota when I can't be bothered writing the whole name. Your sister used to live in Mallacoota? I probably knew her then. Why did she move away?

Chapter 6 

Charlotte rolled over in her bed, looking at her clock. It was almost eleven. Groaning, she decided to get up and have a shower. She surveyed herself in the mirror, noticing that she was still wearing her outfit from the night before. Knowing that the possibility of anyone else, namely Tess, being in the house, she grabbed a pair of old jeans and a baggy t-shirt, and headed into the bathroom to have a long hot shower.

As the water pelted down on her skin, she inspected her skin, trying to find any evidence of last night's tryst with Andrew. Inwardly cursing herself for having too many drinks, she stepped out of the shower, trying to ignore the thumping pain in her head. Turning the tap on over the basin, she grabbed the glass that lived next to the sink and filled it with water, downing it in two gulps and quickly re-filling it.

"Charlotte, you up?" she heard Tess call.

"I'll be out in a minute," she replied, tying her hair into a messy ponytail, and fishing through the bathroom cabinet hoping to find some Panadol. Unable to locate any painkillers, she gathered up her dirty clothes and dumped them in her bedroom, shutting the door securely before going downstairs.

"Did you have a good sleep? You were dead to the world when I got home."

"Yeah, it was great. I guess I was more exhausted than I thought."

"What are you going to do this afternoon?"

"I was gonna take Phoenix for a ride, if that was ok?"

"Sure, but I want you to clean the yards and the horse gear before dinner."  
"Why?" Charlotte asked snidely "Don't you pay people to do that?"

"Charlotte, I know you've only been here a week, but I still expect you to pull your finger out and help around here, and that means not sleeping in till lunchtime. There's far too much for us to do without having to…"

"Without having to, what? Look after me? I don't need someone to mother me, I can look after myself, I've had to for long enough. Why did you let Dad take me Tess, he didn't give a shit about me, he dumped me in Boarding School so he wouldn't have to deal with me everyday"

"Charlotte…"

"I'm going for a ride." Charlotte stood up and rushed out of the house, almost collecting Meg as she went through the laundry, picking up her hat as she wiped away the tears that had fallen.

Meg came into the kitchen and saw Tess sitting there, her head in her hands. "What's wrong with Charlotte?" Tess didn't say anything, "Tess?"

"I asked her to do some work, said that she can't just sit around while everyone else does all the work."

"Tess…"

"She hates Peter so much, and she blames me for her being put in Boarding School, says that it was my fault 'cause I was the one that let Peter have her, and you know what? She's right, if I had've listened to Claire and looked after her myself, then maybe she wouldn't feel the way she does."

"Tess, you couldn't have known that that was what Peter was going to do with her."

"I could've prevented it though…if I had've had the guts to look after her here…"

"Tess, there's no point in dwelling on the past, she's here now, and that's what matters most, she's here where she belongs and you've got to take care of her, no matter what she says." Meg gave Tess a comforting hug, and motioned for her to follow Charlotte.

Charlotte hurriedly saddled Phoenix, and urged the young horse forward as fast as she could. By the time Tess got to the horse yards, Charlotte was long gone. Feeling the need to go after her only niece, Tess saddled her horse, and took off at a trot, allowing the horse time to warm up before they sped up.

Charlotte rode in no particular direction, and eventually ended up on one of the hills that surrounded Drovers Run. Looking off into the distance, she spotted the river and followed it, curious as to where it would lead, not really caring that she didn't know the property all that well, since whenever she came out to visit Drovers everyone was too busy working to go riding with her. She ended up near the National Park and jumped off to open the gate, allowing her access to the large expanse of bush that spread along one boundary of the large property.

After a couple of hours of fruitless searching, Tess went back to the house, hoping that Charlotte had turned up. She unsaddled her sweaty horse and gave it a quick hose, remembering something she was told when she was much younger, 'the horses needs always come first.' When she was told it at the time, she thought it was just another way for the adults to get out of looking after the horses, but now when she really thought about it, their horses were so important to the running of Drovers, that they deserved to be well looked after, no matter how tired she was at the end of a long day of work. Stevie walked past while Tess was scrapping the excess water off her horses body, "Where's Phoenix?"

"She's not back yet?"

"No, I was looking for her earlier, but I can't find her."

"Charlotte took her out earlier, but I honestly thought she would've calmed down by now."

"What do you mean calmed down by now?"  
"We had an argument and she took off, I couldn't find her."

"And you gave up?" Tess gave her an 'what's your problem with that' look, "Tess she doesn't know the property all that well, what if she's hurt?"

"I looked everywhere, I can't find her. I don't know where else to go."

"Did you check Claire's grave?"

"That was the first place I looked. I'll take the Ute out in a minute, I'm just gonna finish with my horse."

"I'll come."

Charlotte was riding down the gravel road that weaved through the National Park, trying to find her way out to the main road. She cursed herself for not paying more attention to where she was going, while she was on her way away from the house. Eventually she ended up on the main road from Gungellan, and she sped up to a canter, beginning the long ride back to Drovers Run.

A/N: ok it's a little short…sorry. I'll update again as soon as I can. Tell me what you thought…


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